Large room layout and speaker placement

[justingann78]

Ok looking for some help here. I am helping a friend of mine build his first real surround sound system. My issue is that the room he has is 28 ½’ by 21 ½’ with a cathedral ceiling. The total volume of the room is 6434 cubic feet. They are only going to use a third of the room for the TV area. The rest of the room is going to be used as a game room. There is also a floor to ceiling stone fire place in the center of the room and he wants to put the Plasma on the stone. I need to get a good idea on speaker brands as well as placement. If I were to put the surrounds on the walls they would be way too far away from the listening area. I thought about putting them in the ceiling but all of the sites say that the sound quality will suffer because of the direction of the sound.
What types of speaker systems would you all recommend for a room that size? I am trying to put together three price packages for the system and the top price for the speakers would be around 10 thousand and then down to around 4 or 5 thousand for the lower end.

Thanks all.

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok looking for some help here. I am helping a friend of mine build his first real surround sound system. My issue is that the room he has is 28 ½’ by 21 ½’ with a cathedral ceiling. The total volume of the room is 6434 cubic feet. They are only going to use a third of the room for the TV area. The rest of the room is going to be used as a game room. There is also a floor to ceiling stone fire place in the center of the room and he wants to put the Plasma on the stone. I need to get a good idea on speaker brands as well as placement. If I were to put the surrounds on the walls they would be way too far away from the listening area. I thought about putting them in the ceiling but all of the sites say that the sound quality will suffer because of the direction of the sound.
What types of speaker systems would you all recommend for a room that size? I am trying to put together three price packages for the system and the top price for the speakers would be around 10 thousand and then down to around 4 or 5 thousand for the lower end.

Thanks all.

First off don't put the TV over the fireplace, that is the worst location possible, and will drastically shorten the life of the TV.

We need pictures of that space.

That is a big area, and will need good efficient speakers able to achieve high spl.

 

[justingann78]

Here are two photos of the room. The house was just purchased and we are doing a complete remodel. The fire place will be stacked stone to the ceiling. There is also a slider to the back yard that you can’t see in front of the bar. There are two doorways in to this room one on either side. The pictures were taken from those doorways. The wall opposite of the fire place is blank with nothing on it. The bar on the right side is going to stay there.

 

[TLS Guy]

Here are two photos of the room. The house was just purchased and we are doing a complete remodel. The fire place will be stacked stone to the ceiling. There is also a slider to the back yard that you can’t see in front of the bar. There are two doorways in to this room one on either side. The pictures were taken from those doorways. The wall opposite of the fire place is blank with nothing on it. The bar on the right side is going to stay there.

That fireplace is a hot smokey wood burner. You absolutely CAN NOT hang a TV above that. It will be too high anyway.

Lets Have a look at the other end of the room. A blank wall sounds good!

 

[justingann78]

I don’t have a picture of that wall but it is just like the one the fire place is on just blank with the two doors on either side. Oh and the fire place is going to be replaced with a gas unit.

 

[TLS Guy]

I don’t have a picture of that wall but it is just like the one the fire place is on just blank with the two doors on either side. Oh and the fire place is going to be replaced with a gas unit.

The fire place will still get hot, so that end of the room should be ruled out right away.

At your price range you have a lot of speakers to audition.

What are your friends musical preference and what speakers are available for audition in your area.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Take it from a guy who hung his plasma above the FP, dont do it. I left it up there for a good 3 weeks before I decided it had to come down.

 

[justingann78]

They mainly listen to older rock, classical and gospel music. Well I am new to the area so I am not sure about the AV shops around here. I am close to Greenville SC. if anyone know where to go please let me know.

Here are some brands that I found close to me.

Polk
MartinLogan
Klipsch
Focal

No one has web sites for there businesses here so annoying.

I wanted to check out Axiom and RBH.

 

[jostenmeat]

If there is a brand you are interested in, go directly to that website. Go to "locate dealer", plug in your zip, and see what you find.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... It will be too high anyway.
!

Not if one is willing to stand while watching it

 

[the grunt]

Just to muddy the waters, have you considered putting the display on one of the side walls with “L” shaped seating one leg facing the fireplace and the other the display. That might help preserve the other end of the room for gaming.

Also if you go with the end of the room for the display I don’t see why having the surrounds on the walls about 11 feet from the center of the listening position will be to far. If he plans on using a couch that will put the nearest listeners only 6-7 feet from the speaker.

If you do mount the surrounds from the ceiling they don’t have to be up high. You could buy or make mounts that will let them hang down lower.

Cheers,
Dean

 

[justingann78]

Well does anyone have any suggestions about the brand or the way the speakers could be mounted?

 

[TLS Guy]

Well does anyone have any suggestions about the brand or the way the speakers could be mounted?

This sort of approach will be best for the surrounds. If this is for someone else, I would not recommend you advise speakers that have not been auditioned.

 

[fredk]

Justin. All of the manufacturers you mentioned make some good models. Do some searches here on audioholics for comments on specific speakers.

I am quite happy with my Axioms. The M80 and M60 are quite efficient and will both be able to fill that space to quite high volumes.